hai everyone!
i might be going into a fibromyalgia study for cymbalta but before i say yes i would like to know has anyone tried it and have you had any success with it?
I couldn’t take it just made me not sleep even more, wake up with excessive sweating . It made me feel more spacey feeling in the mind.
I took it for over a year. I had to go on a lower dose when I was in the hospital for another issue. I stopped taking it altogether after that because the price had gone up so much that my out of pocket cost was around a hundred dollars a month. The withdrawal I experienced was horrible for me. It did help the nerve pain while I was taking it though.
I might be the wrong person to reply, but I had a horrible experience with cymbalta. Like LaDonna said , i couldn't sleep, i sweated, i was losing cognitive functioning, etc. I had been up to 90mg and came off of it as soon as possible. As Waters said, withdrawal was horrible too.
Have you asked your doctor about gabapentin for nerve pain?
I have been taking it for 3 months…I really don’t know if its working because I also have PsA and it is hard to tell where my pain is coming from…Although I think it has helped with the feeling of hopelessness I sometimes feel with never ending pain…I too feel a little fuzzy in my mind sometimes …Don’t know what drug that is from!!!
Hi waterwaves! You are not the only one who had a horrible time when you stopped taking Cymbalta, it is constantly mentioned. Excessive sweating was also mentioned.
I was first put on Savella, it was surely a mood lifter, and it did help a llittle until I started to shake uncontrollably! That was the end of that, it reallly did a number on me, so he said he did not want me on Cymbalta, that if was even harder to tolerate.
Hope you are well waves, good to hear from you!
Hugs,
SK
I tried the Cymbalta, and could not deal with the side effects, no sleep, heavy sweating, and shaking. However, my Dr. said most of his patients do well with it.
Hi SK!
Glad to see you too! It's so hard to regulate all of the meds and figure out what works for who. Ty for sharing your experience with the Savella. I think I will stay away from that one. Manders mentioned Gabapentin and that's the one I am taking. I also have a low dose of paroxetene, which helps the anxiety some.
I'm doing ok and hope you are well too
hugs back!
Waters
Hi Waterwaves,
Did you abruptly go off the Cymbalta without titrating it? The reason I ask is that I did that with a different anti-depressant and had horrific depression as a result. So it'd be important to know if you stopped abruptly or did it the clinically recommended way? The info could be helpful to Aliana.
I intended to ask my doctor about titrating it because I wanted to stop. I couldn't afford the out of pocket cost as the cost suddenly went up with the announcement of the generic coming next year. What happened instead was, I caught E Coli and ended up in the ER. While I was in the hospital, the dosage was changed from the 60mg I was taking to 20mg. I believe that was due to the heavy duty IV antibiotics I was given. I had both a bladder infection and an infection in my bloodstream. After being discharged, they wanted me to take the 20 mg dosage while I continued oral ciprolaxin antibiotics. I was on that dosage for another 2 weeks or so out of the hospital. I ended up taking the 20 mg for about 3 weeks, including the time I was in the hospital. I was totally out of the medication with no refills when I saw my Doctor and told them I was never touching Cymbalta again. The withdrawal lasted a good 4 or 5 weeks for me. I was already experiencing vertigo and other symptoms before the 20 mg dosage was even finished. I wasn't given a choice to go from the 60 mg to the 20 and I wasn't going to go back up after that. That's basically what happened for me. If I could have done it the clinically recommended way I would have but I wasn't given a choice. They did tell me I was lucky to still be alive because if I hadn't gone to the ER when I did the E Coli would have killed me so I feel lucky just to be here.
Susan/Waters
Cymbalta is a fantastic med if you don't have any side effects. I missing an enzyme that metabilizes this drug. So out come for me is chronic diarhea. This pain was diminished but I couldn't leave the house.
Hi everyone, I'v been reading the comments about Cymbalta and I thought I should share my experience. Before I was diagnosed with fibro I was given Cymbalta for a combo of chronic back pain depression and "all over aches". It didn't help my back pain but I did get some relief from the aches. Along with the sweating and not sleeping my depression got so much worse!! I'm a person who would NEVER consider suiside but this stuff had me wishing and praying I would never wake up or I'd die in a car accident, anything that would kill me that I didn't cause. My Dr. titrated me off and did say that it happens alot with Cymbalta. So if you decide to do it please be careful and pay close attention to depression ups and downs. I hope everything works out for you, whatever your decision.
Gentle hugs, tlc
I've been on it for a couple of months now. I could not take it during the day - made me SO sleepy. I've been taking it before bedtime. I haven't noticed any excessive sweating, but I've had some trouble staying asleep through the night. Not sure if that's the Cymbalta, the cats, or something else.
I was given Cymbalta very shortly after I was diagnosed with fibro. I was in so much pain and discomfort at that time. About 3 days after I took my first pill, I began to feel relief. After a few weeks I was put on a higher dose and it has continued to help me. I have a lot of other problems with fibro but the severe pain seems to be under control now. And, I have not had any side effects to that medication.
Good luck with the study.
I've been on cymbalta for about 2 yrs. It does help the pain, but I still take a couple other meds for breakthrough pain. Hope this helps. Good Luck!
I began by taking 30 mg for 3 weeks and then upgraded to 60 mg which is what I am on now.
I take the Cymbalta once every day.
I do take other medication, however, for depression, pain, and sleep.
Cymbalta has not helped me at all, but my doctor refuses to ween me off of it. This is a drug you can just quit taking, I found out the hard way. I ended up going nuts and trying to kill myself. My husband didn't' know what to do, luckily the ER doctor knew enough to tell me to get back on the stuff because you can't just stop taking it. My PCP never bothered telling me that little bit of info when I started the stuff. I would love to stop taking it, but they are capsules so I can't cut the dose in half myself. Some people find that is does help, so it is worth trying as long as your doctor agrees to help you get off of it once you start. It also can take a few months to build up. One more little problem is that there is no generic formula, so it can be pricey. Good luck!
I have been on Cymbalta for over a year now. They started to ween me to a 60mg dose. I love it! The only issue I had had, was the beginning side affects. Which was more anxiety, fear of driving, and sometimes feeling really doped up. After fighting through that Cymbalta has been a great help, But it helped me more with my anxiety then with my Fibro. And not to be to out there. But it didn't interrupt my sex life very much. And after time your dose may have to be raised. I am currently on 90mg and it is an expensive medication.
Good luck to you
Hi Aliana, I don’t have any experience with Cymbalta, as Savella has helped me, but I’m glad someone is studying it !!! I hope you can do the study and I wish you great success with it , BTW who is doing the study? A university, drug company ?? Just curious.
Hugs & blessings
I am on it. I have read many blogs about many people that think it is a great drug. I however have been on it about a year and I'm not feeling any difference with it except for that it makes me uncomfortable, gives me sweats, and nightmares. I am pretty sensitive to all antidepressants though so your experience might be life changing and maybe it will help a lot. My doctor doesn't want me off of it because the combination of Cymbalta, Lyrica, and Tramadol help me work everyday but honestly I think it's the Lyrica and Tramadol that help me more then the Cymbalta.
I am a CNA/home healthcare agency manager and one of our nurses once told me when I recommended it for a patient o that there where bad things about it and she thought they would be removing it from the market soon and that she did not want to recommend it for a severly arthritic patient that we had...but I don't know that was a few years ago.
Best of luck to you whatever you decide!
Taerlyn79